their own. This was the first time a general game in the form of a hunt had been initiated.
Nearly two years ago the planet Mazlan was destroyed in a meteor shower and the penal colony for political prisoners on Oison was freed. Ninety percent of the prisoners had been male and originally life had been hard on Oison, the planet they lived on. The discovery of not one, but three valuable exports had turned them from beggars into filthy rich businessmen.
First was the Oison weed. It was discovered when smoked that it gave an amazing high but with regular use it had an anti-aging effect as well. Attempts to grow it off planet were unsuccessful. This led to the second discovery; it seemed the whole planet was inundated with a mineral never heard of before. The anti-aging effect of the Oison weed was the result of the plant being grown in the soil containing this mineral. When the mineral was added to a salve, cream, or bath, it had a miraculous healing effect on most skin irritation and made the skin healthy, soft, giving it an otherworldly glow. Cosmetic companies fought for the rights to buy it.
Already set for life, it seemed almost unfair that fate threw them another bonus. While out exploring some of the males fell into a hole and struck gold, literally. It seemed there were massive deposits of gold in one region. They were easy to get to and cheap to mine. The Mazlans now had everything they needed except compatible females. They were able to find these on Earth and three other planets. One planet, Jarson, refused to allow their females to go. Earth, who had nearly a two to one ratio of female to male was only too happy to allow it but subjected each female to a bride tax.
Century and Washington, two old colonies of Earth from the twenty second century, were still negotiating with the Mazlans. It wasn’t going well because for some reason the Centurions and Washingtons were reluctant and the Mazlans had large numbers of potential brides available from Earth but being cautious they wanted to hedge their bet. It was a smart move especially since Earth’s politicians were not known to be dependable. Rumor had it that it was the old stories about the Mazlans being some kind of shapeshifters or demons that held up the process with the old Earth colonies, that and the fact that they didn’t have the surplus of women Earth had. There was no proof about the rumors, but some people were just superstitious and enjoyed a good story. Mazlans wanted five hundred brides a quarter but only got fifty this time. Earth made ten thousand credits on the bride tax, enough for an average family to buy a house.
Lista didn’t care about the hows or whys, she just wanted to escape. She was already hot and tired, not even four hours into the first day. It wasn’t that Lista was in bad shape, she had been a soldier and had to ask for a discharge to join the bride program. It had been granted immediately because soldiers were easy to get on the overpopulated planet Earth while applicants to the bride program were still hard to find.
A howl rent the air and Lista moved faster. What kind of animals did they have here? She took a drink once she stopped to take a look at the map. At least she was on track to the destination. If she made it to the station to check in before she was captured by her would be mate, she was free to keep the money they had paid her and go home. It wouldn’t be easy, but she would do it because she had to. There was no way she wanted to stay on a planet where men hunted their mates in a desert. Earth was a crazy place to live but it was home. That’s why she was double timing it toward the edge of the mountains.
The mountains might have dangerous animals, that was true, but there was also shelter and places to hide from whoever stalked her. The sounds of a wild animal had grown louder or it might be some kind of beast the locals used to track prey. Right now that’s exactly what she was. There was no way to even
Nearly two years ago the planet Mazlan was destroyed in a meteor shower and the penal colony for political prisoners on Oison was freed. Ninety percent of the prisoners had been male and originally life had been hard on Oison, the planet they lived on. The discovery of not one, but three valuable exports had turned them from beggars into filthy rich businessmen.
First was the Oison weed. It was discovered when smoked that it gave an amazing high but with regular use it had an anti-aging effect as well. Attempts to grow it off planet were unsuccessful. This led to the second discovery; it seemed the whole planet was inundated with a mineral never heard of before. The anti-aging effect of the Oison weed was the result of the plant being grown in the soil containing this mineral. When the mineral was added to a salve, cream, or bath, it had a miraculous healing effect on most skin irritation and made the skin healthy, soft, giving it an otherworldly glow. Cosmetic companies fought for the rights to buy it.
Already set for life, it seemed almost unfair that fate threw them another bonus. While out exploring some of the males fell into a hole and struck gold, literally. It seemed there were massive deposits of gold in one region. They were easy to get to and cheap to mine. The Mazlans now had everything they needed except compatible females. They were able to find these on Earth and three other planets. One planet, Jarson, refused to allow their females to go. Earth, who had nearly a two to one ratio of female to male was only too happy to allow it but subjected each female to a bride tax.
Century and Washington, two old colonies of Earth from the twenty second century, were still negotiating with the Mazlans. It wasn’t going well because for some reason the Centurions and Washingtons were reluctant and the Mazlans had large numbers of potential brides available from Earth but being cautious they wanted to hedge their bet. It was a smart move especially since Earth’s politicians were not known to be dependable. Rumor had it that it was the old stories about the Mazlans being some kind of shapeshifters or demons that held up the process with the old Earth colonies, that and the fact that they didn’t have the surplus of women Earth had. There was no proof about the rumors, but some people were just superstitious and enjoyed a good story. Mazlans wanted five hundred brides a quarter but only got fifty this time. Earth made ten thousand credits on the bride tax, enough for an average family to buy a house.
Lista didn’t care about the hows or whys, she just wanted to escape. She was already hot and tired, not even four hours into the first day. It wasn’t that Lista was in bad shape, she had been a soldier and had to ask for a discharge to join the bride program. It had been granted immediately because soldiers were easy to get on the overpopulated planet Earth while applicants to the bride program were still hard to find.
A howl rent the air and Lista moved faster. What kind of animals did they have here? She took a drink once she stopped to take a look at the map. At least she was on track to the destination. If she made it to the station to check in before she was captured by her would be mate, she was free to keep the money they had paid her and go home. It wouldn’t be easy, but she would do it because she had to. There was no way she wanted to stay on a planet where men hunted their mates in a desert. Earth was a crazy place to live but it was home. That’s why she was double timing it toward the edge of the mountains.
The mountains might have dangerous animals, that was true, but there was also shelter and places to hide from whoever stalked her. The sounds of a wild animal had grown louder or it might be some kind of beast the locals used to track prey. Right now that’s exactly what she was. There was no way to even
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